Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-06-22
THE WIDOW FIDESSA.

HI " lDOh 1lDLocA.
aFsye YOU ever worn a collar spiked
S., ffma and the laundress?" asked
srys nv fdus Achates. as he and /
~ s.ro.ling leisurelV through the
rs---..a collar which made you"
LAS rhsrv of turning the head as a
5r5s of tendiug the knee? l can't say
7 lave ever worn one, exactly. 1 have
had one on occasionally, for brief
"Ubat IS your opinion" continued
Amys. with apparent incOnsequence,
- woman who viii ask"
.Oges.i0ns? Find me one who
doesn't and III tell you what l think
Of hsr.
"No. alone questions, AmyliOD.
Dsels. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
yices-small and great"
Reasonable and unreasonable, IN
season and out of season, suppose you
mean. put in I, too impatient TO wait
his exclamation; for had guessed, as
us1al. what be W IS aiming at more
0u,el-Iv than be. SO old fellow that
ba is could exp. e53 il. 81 see the
mint OF yOur comparison, and l think
!. is a deuced pity We can't dispose of
one ANNOYANCE as readily as OF the
other. If our collar irIitates the cuti-
Gle. We nav tear it Of and chuck it
aysv, II a fell0Tman dIstUrbs our
eouanlmjtv, We can curse him and
nnstla him aside. In either case we
euioy q bIissful sense of relief. not un-
mingled with self-approval. But let
votlzn be the destroyer OF our nerves
or comfort, and no matter now savage
the mood INTO which she compels US.
sny effort We make TO put her down,
be she never SO deserving OF a snub,
leaves Us with an uncomfortable SuS-
picion Of our own brutality, even more
harassing than the original annoyance
to which she subjected US. A man has
no defense against such woman as
you mean, Amys. know whom you
are thinking ef-yOur friend, Fidessa,
tie widow. There is but one way for
you to escape the iufliction of that
woman's ceaseless demands. Avoid her.
Rut you seeG utterly unable TO do that,
ny friend. You have as good as con-
tsssed that she irritates yOu. Yet she
hasn't more willing slave, apparently,
than yourself. Has she been yictimlzing
you again, lately:'
"Ah, no; not exactly that. What
she asked me to do wasn't so faI out
Of the way. It wouldn't have mat
tered, you know, If that Internal parrot
had been less vicious, and if those
cursed old women hadn't been on the
spot toTepOrt the affair as even more
ridiculous than Il really was"
This is interesting, Amys. This
latest parrot story! Let us have IT.
Old fellow, without delay"
well, you see, dropped IN on
fidessa the other afternoon, at most
mopportune moment. as it proved. She
was moving. Leaving the Marsden
House and going to housekeeping. She
las q parrot. Thinks the world of it.
Was afraid to trust IT.
10 the eXpreSsman. see. SO she
asked you tc carry it through the streets
on your finger from the Marsden House
70 her new place of abode. How many
miles did it proYe7''
Not On NY finger. Amylion, he
sad, Ignoring my question. "It had a
nice stand TO which it was chained.
Atter a block or two l found it rather
neaVy, and It was al awkward thing
% carry, 50 l got into the passing
dummy, l put it on the step beside
~5 ciu1ched it tight with my left hand
What, the parrot?n
~. Hang it, no. How stupid YOU are.
Ile stand-the perch-wIth the parrot
upon Il. Well, just as the bird began
~ nap It's wings and scream like mad,
eIaWing after US all the bows in crea-
uOn; who should come around the cor
Cary ~ ''-iN 1'0'"'i
ma me biggest old gossips in town.
Dld they see you?n
hang them, yes. How could they
1oat;, nr,P \, 'lought That green devil was
MaAihg nit noise enough to rouse the
sn3 ' had to bow to the old witches.
~ ~. !aS' as l was in the act of raising
a-r. r ''s', something seized my left upper
sSa u. thought Tor an Instant It was
the conductor. '' - "''7
ms,ba! ,tbna.!,Od9cing a newly invented
baI NgT NJ OF soliciting car fares. Hal
uAs Was it the parrotY''
ia IVA. ~ was the parrot. II had buried
sna ~ 'eak t IN my arm, and was twisting
w.s turning 1t in the flesh. Ny coat
70. as new one. Torn flesh heals. but
sDaa. sDtu eIGth does not. Scars can be re.
pstcb oH aaFns are dlsreputable. A
ans a1sIn - oh my skin, 1 could endure. but
asngS. "a my coat sleeve, never. But of
lat tNaueh " The stand, upon which had
strsss. my lold, toppled over into the
its ct, chan fr'u dragged Ti away the parrot by
Gs,icha Chain. The boys set up a howl of
sfin sfin.e, -, while the cid women stood
bs,ia,oa bi, oaklng in every detail, and more
csarNa ~ jumped on 10 pick mn INV
i,,oIst, ist, and found it a crushed an5
DevS SS' green green mass upon the car track
futtsrss5S sSaI II vas, it seemed to have
crown M uloer The wheels simply to
blrd Wy, ny discontinue. Any decent
If | didn;t ,s nave fOwn clear Of the rails.
cIutcSiua hun ! look fool as | stood ihsre l1a
wreck i my S.y arm and gazing upon the
dag.n mail neTeF do 50 to my dying